Senior citizens who lead an inactive lifestyle increase risk of developing heart problems by 27%

Senior citizens who lead an inactive lifestyle increase their risk of developing cardiovascular issues by 27% (Image: Shared Content Unit)

Sign up to FREE email alerts from GrimsbyLive - Daily

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Instead of taking it easy in their golden years, a recent study suggests that people aged 60 and over need to exercise more in order to prevent a heart attack or stroke.

The study of more that 1 millions senior citizens, was published by the European Heart Journal. The study found people over the age of 60 who did little exercise increased their risk of developing heart and blood vessel related problems by 27%.

However, older people who regularly worked out reduced their risk of developing a cardiovascular disease by 11%. Even people who go from a very inactive lifestyle to moderately or vigorously active, can drastically reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular issues.

Read More

Related Articles

Exercise was also show to help elderly people with chronic conditions and disabilities, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels.

Worryingly, those who were active at the first check and then became inactive had a 27% increased risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

More women (78%) than men (66%) said they lead an inactive lifestyle. (Image: Shared Content Unit)

Socioeconomic factors

The study also took socioeconomic factors, such as age, sex, and lifestyle behaviours, like smoking and alcohol consumption into consideration.

More women (78%) than men (66%) said they lead an inactive lifestyle and only 22% of inactive people in the study increased their physical activity by the time of the second health check.

Those with disabilities could also reduce their risk of developing heart problems with some excercise; people with disabilities who became more active three to four times a week, reduced their risk of cardiovascular problems by 16%.

Read More

Related Articles

Kyuwoong Kim, organiser of the study said: “The most important message from this research is that older adults should increase or maintain their exercise frequency to prevent cardiovascular disease."

It's especially important to pay attention to the findings, as there's expected to be more than 2 billion over 60s on the planet by 2050.

"While older adults find it difficult to engage in regular physical activity as they age, our research suggests that it is necessary to be more physically active for cardiovascular health, and this is also true for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions.